Pikachu, Gardevoir and Suicune Join That Pokemon Fighting Game

The latest Pokken Tournament gameplay video shows off Pikachu, Gardevoir and Suicune as new playable characters.

Back when Nintendo first announced Pokken Tournament - the Pokemon fighting game from Tekken developer Bandai Namco - it showed us just two fighters: Lucario and Machamp. Considering that there are over seven hundred of the little monsters now, it seemed a given that we'd get more info on more playable characters soon. And now we have! Pikachu, the mascot of the series, alongside Gardevoir and Suicune will be playable characters in Pokken Tournament.

Check out the new trailer featuring the trio, as well as some gameplay footage of them in action, in the video above. As well as the three main fighters, Pokken Tournament producer and Tekken team lead Katsuhiro Harada explained that the game would have "assist" characters, that would not be playable but could be selected to help you out in battle. He revealed Emolga, Fenniken, Lapras and Snivy as the first assist characters.

Harada also talked a bit about how the actual game will play, telling us that fights are broken up into a field phase, in which Pokemon can run around the fighting area and use long distance attacks, and a duel phase, when fighters get close and fight hand-to-hand. Each Pokemon has it's own "ultimate" attack called a Resonance Burst, and characters are ranked by their skill in field fighting, duel fighting and their ultimate move.

Additionally, eschew of the customary arcade stick (so far, Pokken Tournament has only been confirmed for an arcade release), the game will use a gamepad that is reminiscent of traditional Nintendo controllers. Check it out, along with some screenshots, below:

If you happen to live in Japan, you can check out the game during it's "test dates", in which it will temporarily be available in arcades across Tokyo. The test dates will be held on January 30 to February 1, and on Valentine's Day (February 14).

There is still no word on whether this game will be making it to the Wii U, or even to any territories outside of Japan.